News

Potatoes are catching up

A wet start to the year is continuing to cause problems for farmers, but one hearty crop is making a come-back.

Kiran Shetty with Syngenta tells Brownfield while 2019 has been a wet year, potatoes are faring pretty well since they’re not grown in the areas of the Midwest getting the most rainfall.

“Where they’ve grown potatoes, they’ve been late.  They stayed very cool and wet for a long time in the early days so I’d say on average we’re about two weeks behind across the U.S.”       

But it hasn’t come without issues. “In places where it has stayed cool and wet because of the of delayed emergence, there has been significant seed rot and people have either gone and replanted or at least abandoned that field,” Shetty says.

State’s like Michigan, which leads the nation for chipping potatoes, and other areas that grow one type of potato are now reporting excellent crops, but Shetty says states growing several varieties like in the Northeast, are drier and aren’t doing well.

Shetty is hosting ag retailers and farmers this week in Sidney to see new technologies on their Syngenta Grow More potato Experience site.